Bullet Points

[NSSF]

Vol. #4 No. #48
December 01, 2003

DWIGHT YOAKAM TAKING THE STAGE AT SHOT SHOW® CELEBRATION

Make arrangements now to celebrate The 26th SHOT Show With The Man
Amazon.com named "Country Artist of the Year"

TWO-TIME GRAMMY® AWARD WINNING ARTIST TO PERFORM . . . Dwight Yoakam has sold more than 23 million records and scored numerous hits. The two-time Grammy Award winner is renowned for his live concert performances. His once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the shooting sports at the SHOT Show on Thursday, February 12, will be in the Barron Ballroom of the Hilton in Las Vegas. Be sure to be a part of it all, including the NSSF State of the Industry report and dinner. Purchase tickets and hear one of country music’s top singer/songwriters, at http://www.shotshow.org/2004/concert/ or contact the National Shooting Sports Foundation at 203-426-1320 for more information about this prestigious event.
ST. LOUIS LAWSUIT APPEALED . . . The city of St. Louis has appealed an October 15th decision by a trial court to grant the firearms industry's request for a dismissal of its suit against 32 defendants. To keep track of the various lawsuits against the industry, you can check a regularly updated "Municipal Lawsuit Scorecard" on the Internet at http://www.hsshf.org/legal/, Web site of the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Fund.
MAJORITY SUPPORT FIREARMS INDUSTRY . . . A Roper poll recently conducted to gauge popular sentiment for the firearms industry in its fight against the municipal lawsuits reveals overwhelming support for the notion that lawful manufacturers of non-defective products should not be blamed when criminals misuse their wares. Seventy-eight percent of respondents disagreed with the statement, "Companies that make guns should be held financially liable if judges or juries find that their products were used to commit a crime," according to the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action.
TAURUS PURSUES USER-RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY . . . In a press release last week, Taurus International said it had formed a three-way partnership to fast track the development of a handgun that electronically recognizes individual users. The New Jersey Institute of Technology, which owns a grip recognition technology, and Metal Storm, Ltd., which owns a patented electronic firing system, are partners with Taurus in the effort. "[This partnership] presents the firearms world with a combined wealth of forward-seeing science that will likely revolutionize ballistics, solid state technology and specific user identification," said Robert G. Morrison, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Taurus International. Read the press release.
WHAT'S NEW AT SHOT . . . Since clothing is a profitable line of merchandise for the shooting-sports retailer, the SHOT Show Theater will allow retailers to sit in on fashion shows previewing a variety of new apparel being offered at the show. You'll also see an increased number of hunting outfitters on hand as exhibitors in Las Vegas. These businesses are coming to SHOT to offer new profit centers to the savvy shooting-sports retailer who can partner with them to offer a complete and unique hunting adventure beyond the ones customers are used to in the local area. An additional benefit, your customers will need additional accessories, different pattern camouflage and other products appropriate to the destination.
ENFORCING EXISTING LAWS
MICHIGAN PUNISHES GUN STORE ROBBERS . . . Two men convicted of robbing Robert Smith, Sr., a Lapeer County firearms dealer, then killing him and seriously wounding his son, have been sentenced for their crimes a year ago. Charles Ralston, age 38, and Herman Page, age 50 will both serve mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murder, and Ralston received a 35 to 70 year sentence for assault with intent to murder, while Page was sentenced to 25 to 40 years for the same conviction.
AROUND THE STATES
NEW JERSEY BEAR HUNT . . . The Fund for Animals is threatening to file a lawsuit today to halt New Jersey's planned bear hunt beginning December 8 in the state's most rugged counties near Pennsylvania in the Delaware Water Gap. The hunt, the first in thirty years, is designed to control a population estimated to exceed 3,000 bears that has been determined to constitute a danger to the human residents in the area. A spokesman for the animal group is suggesting contraception as a better means of controlling the bear population.
OHIOANS LOOK TO MICHIGAN . . . With reports that crime rates dropped while the number of Michigan's concealed weapons permits doubled, supporters of a change in Ohio's law are examining those statistics as they make a case for the same kind of permits. In 2000, The Toledo Blade reports the FBI says Michigan had an estimated 4,109 crimes per 100,000 residents. The rate in Ohio was 4,041 per 1,000 residents. After passage of its concealed carry law, according to FBI data for 2002, Michigan's crime rate declined to 3,874 per 100,000 residents and Ohio's increased to 4,107. "For over 40 years, Michigan’s per capita crime rate has exceeded Ohio’s; the new [data] proves all that has changed," Jim Irvine, chairman of the political action committee for Ohioans for Concealed Carry, Inc., told the newspaper. Dale Shantz, proponent for a new law, notes "There’s no way of making any direct connection, but there is no place where there has been any substantial increase in crime all attributable to ... more freedom to transport firearms,"
AROUND THE INTERNET
NRA WOMEN'S MAGAZINE . . . Women's Outlook, the NRA member's magazine geared toward the concerns of female shooters, has attracted the attention of The Boston Globe with an article that notes increased interest by women in belonging to the organization. Additionally, Wal-Mart stores have begun selling the publication on their news stands.
CWD NEWS . . . For the latest information about Chronic Wasting Disease, check the NSSF-supported CWD-Info Web site's News and Updates section

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